SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team will play for its second straight victory 1 p.m. Wednesday on the road against Shepherd University. The non-conference match will be contested at the Shepherd Soccer Complex.
 
The Rock enter hot from their 3-2 victory last week against Pitt-Johnstown, now with an overall record of 2-3-3 and a 1-1 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division. The Rams also come in following a win, at 2-5-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the PSAC East.
 
WATCH LIVE
Fans can watch Wednesday's game live for free via the links below provided by Shepherd University Sports Information.

GAME 9 of 17
Opponent: Shepherd
Date: Wednesday — 1 p.m.
Venue: Shepherd Soccer Complex
Location: Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Live Video: Veo Sports – Shepherd Men's Soccer
Live Stats: Shepherd Sports Information
In-game Updates: X (@Rock_Athletics)

SERIES HISTORY vs. SHEPHERD
Wednesday will mark the seventh all-time meeting between The Rock and the Rams, a series that Slippery Rock remains undefeated in, holding a 5-0-1 record. Slippery Rock has only traveled to Shepherd twice, never having allowed a goal from the Rams on their home pitch. In 2013, Slippery Rock claimed a 4-0 victory on the road, while 2021 saw a 2-0 win. In the total series, SRU has outscored Shepherd by a mark of 18-3.

LAST MEETING
Slippery Rock had to settle for its first draw against Shepherd Sept. 3, 2022 at James Egli Field. The flow of the game was looking to go per usual for the series, when Arturo Pla Hernandis netted a goal on a ball from Ramses Minaya in the 28^th minute. However, Shepherd took advantage of The Rock falling to 10 men after a 67^th minute red card, equalizing with just 12 minutes left in the match.
 
The Rock outshot Shepherd, 13-9, while both teams attempted six corner kicks. Pla Hernandis tied his career-high with six shots.
 
THE ROCK BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 2-3-3
PSAC West Record: 1-1-0
PSAC West Standings: T-2^nd  
Home Record: 2-1-1
Away Record: 0-2-2
Last Five Games: 2-1-2
Streak: W1
Head Coach: Kevin Wilhelm | Sixth season at SRU (27-43-11)

LAST TIME OUT
The Rock hosted Pitt-Johnstown last week, in what became a dramatic second win of the season for Slippery Rock. UPJ got on the board early, just seven minutes in, but Pla Hernandis checked in with his fifth goal of the season in the 20^th minute. Just 1:28 later, Ignacio Rullan doubled the tally for Slippery Rock. In the 31^st minute, Aitor Jorde pinballed a heading ball from Gabin Lonjard past the keeper, making it 3-1 by halftime.
 
UPJ surged late, finding the net in the 87^th minute. The Mountain Cats were awarded a corner kick in the 89^th minute, but Slippery Rock's defense quickly cleared it out to the sideline, leaving UPJ with insufficient time to seek out the equalizer.
 
Despite UPJ placing all seven of its shots on target, Slippery Rock still outshot the Mountain Cats, 14-7.

FINDING THE NET
Pla Hernandis is the first member of The Rock to hit double-digits in points, now with 10 on five goals. He ranks ninth in the PSAC in points and is second in shots per game with 3.13.
 
Following his game-winning goal against UPJ, Jorde has six points on three goals, while Aashi Pandher maintains five points on two goals and one assist. Rullan follows with four points on one goal and two assists, while Lonjard has three points on a goal and an assist.
 
Luke Gildea and Joe Skillicorn both picked up their first points on the season with assists against Pitt-Johnstown. Joining them with one assist each are Chris Mitchell, Max Murphy and Shaun Spencer.
 
The Rock now has 10 different members of the roster with points to their name in 2023.

KUDOS TO THE FRESHMAN
Lonjard, the Dijon, France native, earned his first career goal and assist last week, resulting in his first PSAC West Athlete of the Week award. Lonjard scored his first goal against California (Pa.) in a 2-1 loss, and then gave The Rock an assist on the game-winning goal against Pitt-Johnstown.
 
On the season, the defender now has three shots, two of which have gone on target. Additionally, he is the only player besides goalkeeper Adam Davies to have played all 720 minutes.
 
Lonjard is the first representative of Slippery Rock to be named PSAC West Athlete of the Week since Sept. 6, 2021 when Alex Plimmer earned the award.

FIRST LOOKS ON THE YEAR
Two players for The Rock took their first shots of the season against Pitt-Johnstown: Mitchell and Topher Garcia. Garcia, a senior, took his first shot of the year after starting in four games this season. He finished 2022 with one assist and four shots.
 
Mitchell, a freshman, recorded an assist earlier in the season against Shippensburg University, his first career point. His first shot, however, came against the Mountain Cats. Mitchell has played in every game this season, averaging 67 minutes per match.
 
Freshman Nate Stalter took the first shot of his career against California last week and had another look against UPJ with one shot. Stalter has shown that he can be a trusted defender with the header, especially on corner kicks.

LOOPING IT IN FROM THE FLAGS
Slippery Rock took nine corner kicks against Pitt-Johnstown, its second-highest tally of the season. The Rock are now on a five-game streak of taking greater than or equal to the number of corners the opposition takes. Last week alone, Slippery Rock held a two-game edge in corner kicks, 15-7.
 
The Rock's 48 total corners and six corner kicks per game are second in the PSAC West. SRU has taken five or more corners in seven of its eight matches this year, highlighted by 10 in its match versus Daemen University.

MAKING IT BACK-TO-BACK
Slippery Rock has an opportunity Wednesday to earn consecutive victories for the first time since Sept. 21, 2022, when The Rock went on a three-game winning-streak with matches against the University of the District of Columbia, Pitt-Johnstown and California.
 
Slippery Rock has had at least two consecutive wins in every season since 2004. If SRU can keep this streak alive, it would make 19 straight seasons featuring a winning streak of at least two matches.
 
The Rock enter Wednesday's match having lost only one of their last five matches.

THE BACK LINE
The defensive efforts for Slippery Rock have paid off in recent games, allowing an average of just four shots on goal in the past three matches. The workload continues to be led by the likes of Lonjard and Jeroen Van Der Veen, supported by Spencer, Stalter and Will Harrigan.
 
BETWEEN THE STICKS
Davies earned his second win of the season against Pitt-Johnstown in an effort that tied his career-high five saves on seven shots faced. Davies enters Wednesday's matchup with a 1.75 GAA. Now with 30 saves on the year, Davies' save percentage is .682.
 
ACTIVE SRU ROSTER vs. SHEPHERD
Arturo Pla Hernandis — 2 points (1 goal, 0 assists)
 
THE RAMS BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 2-5-1 (.313)
PSAC East Record: 1-3-1
PSAC East Standings: T-5^th
Home Record: 1-1-0
Away Record: 1-1-0
Last Five Games: 1-3-1
Streak: W1
Head Coach: Ryan McDougall | Third season at Shepherd (5-32-7, .193)

SHEPHERD SCOUTING REPORT
The Rams enter the match against Slippery Rock following a 2-1 victory over Shippensburg, a team that SRU played to a 1-1 draw. Shepherd also has common opponents in UDC and Lock Haven University. Slippery Rock tied UDC, 2-2, while Shepherd defeated the Firebirds, 3-1. Similarly, while The Rock dropped a 1-0 contest to Lock Haven, the Rams fought to a 0-0 draw with the Bald Eagles.
 
Prior to its 2-1 victory over Shippensburg, Shepherd had scored just three goals in the previous four games, two of which came in a 4-2 home loss to No. 24 East Stroudsburg University. The Rams have yet to win at home this year, entering Wednesday 0-3.
 
Junior Andrew West leads the Rams with eight points on four goals, while true freshman Mac Long has contributed seven points on three goals and one assist. Graduate student John Eskay, who has three points on one goal and one assist, is fifth in the PSAC East in shots per game with 2.13.
As a team, the Rams commit the second-fewest fouls in the PSAC with just 9.88 per match. They are tied with Slippery Rock for the fewest offsides per game in the PSAC, both at 1.63 per game.
 
Netminding duties have been divvied up for the Rams this year, with senior Christian Blazes getting the majority of starts recently. Blazes has allowed nine goals in five games played, while sophomore Carter Cave has allowed 10 goals in five games played.
 
Both of Shepherd's wins have been earned under the goaltending duties of Blazes, but several of this year's matches have seen each goalie play 45 minutes in net.

LOOKING AHEAD
Slippery Rock will get back into PSAC West action 6:30 p.m. Saturday when it travels to No. 10 Mercyhurst University. The Rock were swept by the Lakers last season in a pair of shutout losses.



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